


The Apprentice

by geminibae16



Category: Devil May Cry
Genre: Bickering, Bonds, Breakups, Coming to an Understanding, Eventual Fluff, F/M, Family Bonding, Feelings Realization, Fighting, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Frustration, Gen, Mentions of Lady - Freeform, Mentions of Trish - Freeform, Misunderstandings, Nero is an ass, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Post DMC5, Swearing, and I mean a lot of it, only for the first part of the story
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-08
Updated: 2020-04-09
Packaged: 2021-03-01 17:22:08
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,240
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23540770
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/geminibae16/pseuds/geminibae16
Summary: Who wouldn't want to work under the Legendary Demon Hunter himself?Mia takes a trip to accomplish her goal but ends up finding herself in a sticky situation with a hotheaded descendant of Sparda. How will things play out?
Relationships: Nero (Devil May Cry)/Original Female Character(s)
Kudos: 2





	1. And So We Meet

**Author's Note:**

> First Devil May Cry fic but I've had this idea for the longest. Wanted to get it out and be somewhat productive during this time.

"Jeez, you're annoying."

"Same goes for you, Neee-ro."

"Ugh, don't say may name like that!"

"Neee-ro!" Mia repeated and stuck her tongue out.

Nero turned around in the passenger seat and responded with a middle finger. "Nico, why did you pick her up?"

"She said she needed a ride, so why not?" Nico shrugged in the driver's seat. "Plus a new face wouldn't hurt right about now." Nico rolled her eyes at Nero.

"I don't understand your reasoning. That's somebody else that I have to watch and I'm not a baby sitter. Bad enough I, we, don't even know her."

"Who said you have to watch me? Like I said before, I can fight and how do think I've survived this long?" 

Nero turned around in the seat and began to argue with Mia. As the yelling got louder between the two, Nico slammed on the brakes, lurching the two forward.

"Yo! Keep this up and the both of y'all are gonna walk back!" The two settled down and stayed quiet after Nico jumped their case.

The three remained quiet on the long drive. Still unsure about picking up a hitchhiker, Nero periodically turned to look back at Mia, where he was greeted with crude middle finger. He scoffed and turned back around in his seat, continuing to look out the window. Now how did him and Nico end up with another passenger? Odd enough, Mia said she was a fellow demon hunter. This job seemed to be the new craze for everybody now. It's been a while after the whole qlipoth incident, maybe a year and a half or so, and random demons just start popping up again. It wasn't like infestation or anything, just some random sightings here and there. So people decided to do things themselves instead of relying on the government to be consistent about these things. Apparently, she's one of many that decided to take on this profession. Of course Nero didn't believe this right away and thought she was just some crazy chick on the side of the road. Mia argued with him and pulled out her karambits and katana, insisting that she was taking this seriously. As a result, Nero pointed his gun at her- cocked, aimed, and ready to shoot. Mia played it off and say his puny little gun doesn't even bother her. Nico overheard the conversation and was definitely amused but more intrigued by the two knives Mia carried. With no hesitation, Nico asked Mia if she needed a ride anywhere. Nero refused Nico's offer and told Mia to find another ride. Nico decided to make a bargain and give Mia a ride if she would let her upgrade her equipment. Mia was skeptical but figured it was a hard deal to pass up on. Mia hopped on board and settled in the back as Nico took off.

"So, where'd ya come from?" Nico questioned Mia.

"A long way from here actually." Mia answered with a sigh. "It's been a long trip for me."

"So what exactly are you doing on your trip?" 

"I'm heading to Devil May Cry."

"You're what?" Nero shouted and looked at Mia from the passenger seat. 

"You heard me the first time." Mia crossed her arms and glared at Nero.

"Well well, you're in luck cause we're headed back." Nico grinned at Nero as he mumbled something under his breath.

"Why the hell do you want to go? Nico pull this van over and let her out." 

"No. We made a deal and I'm sticking with it."

Mia laughed at the desperation in Nero's voice. He faced the front of the van with his arms folded and feet on the dashboard. For the few more hours Nico drove, they didn't say anything until the van slowed to a halt near a gas station.

"Alright Nero, it's your turn to drive." Nico hopped out of the driver's seat and headed out of the van. "Y'all want any snacks?"

"No. I'm fine." Nero answered.

"I'm good, thanks." Mia responded. Following suit, Mia stepped out of the van and stretched her legs. "Know how much longer it's gonna take to get back?"

Nero looked at Mia and shrugged his shoulders. "Maybe a half a day left."

Mia walked around the van and admired the big, blue neon sign adorned on the side of the van .Devil May Cry . A sigh of content left her mouth as she walked back towards the door. "So what are y'all, the mobile crew or something?" Mia attempted to make small talk with Nero. 

"If you want to call it that. Why do you want to go there anyway?"

"Because-"

"Alright! I got some cheese puffs, barbeque chips, sour cream and onion, and some dip. But since you two didn't want anything, that means more for me." Nico taunted as she entered the van.

Mia chuckled as Nico opened a bag and tossed a chip in her mouth. "I hope you two are gonna get along cause I don’t need anymore bickering in this van."

"I hope so too." Mia folded her arms as she stared at Nero. He scoffed and hopped in the driver's seat and started the engine.

After Nico had finished a bag of chips, she went to the workstation in the back and peered over Mia's knives.

"Where'd you get these bad boys?" Nico asked while eying the blade of the karambit.

"They were a gift." Mia said as she walked to the workstation.

"Hm. Seem pretty sharp but do you really kill demons with these? Ain't it dangerous?"

"It is but I have my way of killing them." Mia reassured Nico.

"What about that katana?"

"I just picked that up somewhere, I guess it doesn't hurt to have a backup." 

From the front seat, Nero snorted at what he heard. Mia turned and frowned at him and Nico stopped her before saying anything.

"Is he always like that?" Mia still sported a frown.

"Nah. He's just had is panties in a bunch recently. Normally he's an ass but he's taken it to a new level."

Nero flicked Nico off from the front seat. Nico mumbled under her breath and called him a jackass.

Mia peered at the mechanical arms that hung behind Nico. "What are those for?" She asked while pointing to one. 

"Well I made these special Devil Breakers for Nero. Since the little situation with his arm, I made those to help him out while he fought demons. But his arm grew back like a damn lizard or something and now these just hang here whenever he feels like using 'em."

"A lizard?" Mia asked in disbelief more like in awe. 

"Yeah! You know how some just grow their tails back? He did the same but with his arm."

Mia and Nico shared a chuckle which made Nero mumble under his breath. Getting back to business, Nico continued to examine the blades. 

"I could totally fix these up for you but I still have to figure some things out."

"That'd be great but how much do I owe you?"

"Don't worry about it! If you're gonna be working at Devil May Cry then we might as well become partners!" Nico put emphasis on partners and held out her hand for Mia to shake.

"Alright, partner." 

~~~~

The ride ended up being quiet once again. Nico decided to take a nap since she did most of the driving, leaving Mia and Nero to settle in the silence. During this time, Mia scrolled on her phone for a while until the connection went out. She peered out the window until she moved to the passenger seat. Nero huffed as Mia sat down.

"Don’t worry, I'm not here to bother you." She said while propping her feet on the dashboard. 

"If so, why did you sit up here?" 

"Smart, huh? I wanted a better view that’s all."

Nero ignored her statement and focused on the road. His focus wavered after a few minutes when he decided to strike up a conversation.

"Since you didn't answer my question earlier, answer me now. Why do you want to go to Devil May Cry?"

"I want to meet the legendary devil hunter himself. It'd be cool to finally meet somebody that I've looked up to."

"Can I ask why?"

Mia fiddled with the curls resting on her shoulders. "It's a long story, you'd probably check out in two minutes."

"Get real." Nero huffed. "There's more to it, isn't there?"

"True. I'd love to go on some jobs with him and maybe even train me too. But I just have to see when I get there."   
�Nero didn't know why Mia kept avoiding his question. Definitely intentional but he couldn't figure out why. The more he would try to pry, Mia deflected, almost as if she's been questioned like this before. 

"You realize just because you get there doesn’t mean it'll be as easy as you think." Nero decided to play along and try to make her change her mind about going. 

"I'm pretty sure he won't scare me or try to deter me like you're doing now." 

Nero tightened his grip on the steering wheel, making it obvious that he's been caught. "Vergil's not any better either. He'll probably try to kill you where you stand." Another tactic to make Mia second-guess about going.

"Vergil's there too? That's awesome! So you mean he's not evil or anything now?" Mia sat up and faced Nero.

"You really don't know when to give up do you?"

"Obviously I don't since you're trying to psych me out of it. Keep on trying, I dare you."

"How much do you know anyway?" Nero asked, getting even more frustrated.

"The basic background, the infamous Sparda and his two sons. One power hungry one and the other who valued humanity. The Temen-Ni-Gru incident, Mallet Island, Fortuna, you know all of that. I think it's amazing that the family could put their differences aside and work together."

Nero shot Mia a look of disbelief before changing to his poker face.

"What? You think I didn't know? The hair is a big ass giveaway! Who else you know with hair like that?"

"Okay okay, fine. Change the topic."

"Okay." Mia paused before asking, "Why such the attitude?"

"Don’t want to talk about it." He answered abruptly.

Mia laughed at his response. "Whew, someone's feathers are all ruffled. If we're gonna be partners then we have to get to know each other."

"Partners?" Nero frowned at the words that came from Mia's mouth.

"Uh yeah, partners. What, you don't like the sound of that?"

"Hell no! I don't do partners."

"Well what about Nico then? Surely, she's not your taxi to be driving you everywhere and making you those devil bringers." Mia corrected.

"You know what? I'm dropping you off right now." Nero gripped the steering wheel tighter.

"Why? Because someone is calling you out on your bullshit?"

"Grab your stuff and get out when I pull over."

"Uh no! Nico said I can go to the office and that's where I'm going!"

Nero and Mia shouted at each other for a matter of minutes until they woke up Nico. She shouted at the both of them which ended up turning into a yelling match. Nico had the final say so and then started to work on the karambits and Mia kept her gaze focused on the outside. Nero never stopped to drop Mia off.


	2. Chance Opportunity

The half a day went quicker than expected to get back to Devil May Cry or maybe it was the case of Nero hitting the pedal harder than he should have. Pulling up to Devil May Cry was bittersweet for Mia as she's always wanted to come here. Nero backed the van into the garage and shut the engine off. He scoffed and hopped out of the van before Nico even said anything. She mumbled something and began tidying up her workstation. Mia grabbed her bags and hopped out of the van with Nico right behind her. 

"Well well well, we're here. I don't know if Dante's back or not but I'll go ahead and show you where you can put your stuff." 

Mia followed Nico inside. They passed through the kitchen, which was barely had anything in it, and then to the foyer area. Not expecting it but Dante was at his desk, feet propped up and a magazine covering his face.

"Yo, Dante! You have guest!" Nico drummed on the desk to get his attention. 

Jolting upright and knocking the magazine off his face, Dante groaned. "Nico, did you really have to do that?" 

"You look rough. When did you come in?"

"Just a couple hours ago. Job turned about being worse than expected but it's done. Who's this?" 

"Mia." She held out her hand for Dante. 

"Nice to meet you." He said while shaking her hand. "What can I help you with?" He asked while eyeing her down. 

"More like I think I can help you." 

"Help me?" His eyebrow raised at the statement. "You know, I can think of plenty ways you can help me." 

Mia raised an eyebrow at his statement but before she could respond, Nero shouted from the top of the steps. "Tell her to leave, Dante!"

Dante looked up at Nero and frowned. "Well damn kid, that's pretty rude."

"He's been hostile to me ever since I got in the van." Mia folded her arms and shook her head. "All I asked for was a ride and I guess it just bothered him."

Nico chuckled while Nero was still fuming. Mia cracked a smirk that nearly sent him over the edge. "Dante, you need to kick her out now! She's no good and she's up to something! Goddamnit, just spit it out already!"

Mia rolled her eyes at Nero and turned her attention back to Dante. "Like I was saying before being rudely interrupted, I think I can help you out by working for you."

"Working for me? Er, I don't know how to say this but I'm not hiring-"

"Thank you!" Nero shouted and stormed off down the hallway.

"At the moment. But you really want to work here? Why? Aren't there other demon hunting guilds- places-group-things around?"

"I do but I've always wanted to come to this one. Those places aren't up to my standards but I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to be here at Devil May Cry. Plus, I want to learn from you, that's the main reason I came here."

"But you're a human." Dante scratched his head. "I don't want to get your hopes up but I can't afford to hire a human in this mess. Don't get me wrong but I, uh, don't feel comfortable with it. But learn from me? I'm honored but I just can't. "

"Okay I get it but what if I can make you have a change of heart?"

"How will you do that?"

Mia opened her duffle bag and dug around on the inside until she found a wad of cash and dropped it on the desk. "I know times are rough and sometimes you're strapped for cash but as an offer of my gratitude, I'll give you some money."

Nico jogged over to the desk and looked at the roll of cash. "Woah woah whoah whoah. How much is this?"

"I don't know, at least five thousand."

"Five thousand?" Nico and Dante shouted aloud. The two looked at each other, at the money, and back to Mia. 

"Where did you get all of this? Did you rob a bank?" Dante asked while counting the money.

"I saved up from all the jobs I've been doing for the past few years."

Dante whistled as he counted the money, for at least the second time. "It's been a while since I've seen this much money. But fill me in, how is this supposed to help?"

"Well, giving you this money ought to help with any fees right? So, you can pay those fees off and have a backup stash just in case anything happens."

"Well, since we're getting technical, how did you conjure this up?" Dante asked.

"I've been around a lot of demon hunting groups. They were reckless, and I mean reckless, and never really made their pay from doing jobs. Learning from that, I took it up on my own to save, not be too reckless, and voila, I have enough money saved up."

"I like you even more." Nico said as she pat Mia on the back.

"Since you said you've been around, how-"

"Ugh, you're still here?" Nero groaned as he came back down the steps.

"I am an I'm sure you'll be seeing a lot more of me too."

Nero stopped in his tracks and looked at Dante. "Is she serious?"

"Definitely." Dante eyed the wad of cash and stood up from his chair. "I've decided to take Mia on-"

"As the new apprentice." Mia gave Nero a grin which made him frown. "Aw c'mon. Don't tell me I hurt your feelings."

"I take it you two have really hit it off." Dante cracked. "Since you've had your fair share of demon hunting, what weapons do you use?"

"I use karambits."

"Ka-who?" Dante asked.

"They're these small knives with a wicked curved blade." Mia pulled one out of its sheath. "Nico said that she's gonna fix these bad boys up for me."

Dante looked at the knife with a baffled expression. "You fight with these?" He asked while pointing at the knife.

"Sure do."

Nero shook his head, again. "I don't believe it and I know you don’t either."

Dante pressed the tip of the blade but with the least amount of pressure applied, he had already cut his finger. "Sure is sharp."

"About this apprenticeship," Mia started. "How is this gonna work out?"

"I don’t know. Since this is a spur of the moment thing, I still have to process it. But for now, just chill out until tomorrow. Do you have anywhere to stay?"

"I don’t."

"How about-"

"Don’t even say it." Nero interjected.

"Why are you being so difficult?" Dante demanded. 

"Because-"

"I don’t want to hear it. Mia, you can stay here, if that's fine with you."

"That's totally fine."

~~~~~~~~~~~~

After the long conversation with Dante, Mia ended up hanging out with Nico in her van. Even inside the garage, she could hear Nero shouting and complaining about the Mia and all the things that transpired between her and Dante. She figured that things would be rocky at first but not this bad. As she talked with Nico, Mia wondered something.

"I have a question."

"Shoot." Nico responded.

"Is Nero always cranky and irritable like that?"

Nico sighed. "Yeah, I don't want to divulge in too much but recently, he's been bitchier than normal."

Mia hummed and toyed with her phone.

"Don't worry about him, he'll come around sooner or later."

Mia laughed. "I'm not too worried about him. He reminds me of others I used to work with, just so hotheaded. Just brings me back, that's all."

"No wonder y'all two went back and forth so easy."

"Yeah, I guess it's just natural at this point. You wouldn't mind if I crashed in the van, would you?"

"Totally not! Since that's the case, I can fill you in on a lot of stuff." Nico said with a grin.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading!

**Author's Note:**

> Comments are welcomed and thanks for reading!


End file.
